J. Crew CEO blames sales slump on ugly sweaters

It has been struggling for some time,
alienating some of its most loyal customers with
recent styles that — under creative director Jenna Lyons — have
strayed from the classic fashions J. Crew is best known
for.

But the company won't directly blame Lyons for its decline, even
if she is at the helm of the creative decisions. Instead, CEO
Mickey Drexler is blaming sweaters, reports Bloomberg.

For the most recent quarter, J. Crew sales dropped 5.2% to $508.7
million.

"The lion's share of our women's issues is isolated to knits and
sweaters, which has been an outsize portion of our business,"
Drexler said on a conference call with analysts, according to
Bloomberg.

“We didn’t have the right cardigan,” Drexler said on the
call, according to The Post. "...It didn’t fit that well and we
didn’t buy enough of the perfect crew. We’ve become a T-shirt
destination.”

J. Crew CEO Mickey Drexler
has admitted the company is having some
problems.AP

J. Crew's off-kilter items have
been lampooned by Meaghan Keane on The Gloss. Women's lifestyle website The Hairpin also mocked Jenna Lyons for
championing so many outrageously priced and largely unwearable
items.

In March, Drexler confessed, "we’ve made some missteps over the
last year and we are working hard to course correct," on an
earnings call, according to The Wall Street Journal. In the same
call, he reportedly admitted, "I don’t think J.Crew women’s
looked like J.Crew women’s as much as it could have."

The company also recently infuriated many of its female customers
by changing its signature ballet flats, proving
that it may have a long way to go before it resolves its
problems.

Fortunately, the brand can at least count on its sister
company Madewell, whose sales are booming,
per Bloomberg.